


keep your secrets from me (but i want in)

by camboyyukhei (redmaynes)



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:14:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21532786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redmaynes/pseuds/camboyyukhei
Summary: It was just Dejun's luck that his soulmate was a 6-foot-tall, excitable, eager frat bro, with a smile like bottled sunshine and an alcohol tolerance of a 7-year-old's.And said soulmate had no idea that Dejun had the exact same tattoo that declared them supposed mates for life, so that's just fine and dandy, wasn't it?
Relationships: Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun
Comments: 13
Kudos: 100
Collections: NCT Rarepair





	keep your secrets from me (but i want in)

**Author's Note:**

> yukhei wong frat boi 2k forever no i will never shut up about this
> 
> title inspired by 88rising's i want in

It started like this: a drunken night, a casual flash of skin and a discovery that Dejun probably was better off not stumbling upon, as he slowly came to consciousness.

He dumbly stared at a still asleep Yukhei, sprawled upon Dejun’s bed with his hands thrown above his head. His mouth was agape and his hair was in disarray, yet he inexplicably still looked handsome as ever. 

But Yukhei’s face wasn’t enough to distract Dejun from the fact that there was a tattoo displayed on his left ribs, the one that matched Dejun’s own design, down to the delicate furls of baby’s breath that enclosed the circlet of anemones and gardenias. 

“Shit,” he breathed out, jolting up from the bed. “ _ Shit _ .” Flashes of what happened the night before resurfaced in his mind, and he remembered the paralyzing, yet inexplicable fear that gripped him when Yukhei casually uncovered his tattoo yesterday.

He startled when Yukhei stirred in bed, unable to look away or react in any other way as the other slowly regained consciousness.

“Ohhhh my god,” Yukhei groaned from beside him, “I am never drinking again.”

And after a few seconds of silence, he said, “Who are  _ you _ ?” 

His tone was nothing but innocently inquisitive, but Dejun couldn’t help but bristle at the firm poke Yukhei aimed at his knee. 

Dejun glared at him. “My name’s  _ Dejun _ . I took you home last night because you insisted on coming with me.”

“Whoa, please don’t tell me I slept with a first year last night,”” Yukhei said, his sleepy demeanor shifting into something more horrified. 

I’m a  _ second year _ , just like you, dummy,” Dejun scowled, rubbing at his eyes and scooting away from Yukhei, who had the scent of Malibu and Old Spice and  _ sea salt _ . Yukhei smelled like what Dejun suspected Hollister models smelled like. “And we didn’t sleep together.”

“Hey, you just look young, is all. And how do you know that?”

He gave Yukhei a flat stare. “Our pants are on. And I don't sleep with anyone who is too drunk to even walk on their own.”

“Oh.” The other looked uncomfortable, hunched in on himself while facing Dejun on his side, still with that wide-eyed Bambi look on his stupidly attractive face. “So what exactly happened?”

“You mean to tell me that you don’t remember us talking?” Dejun sighed exasperatedly, scrunching his brows to recall last night.

“Lemme remember for the both of us...”

***

“I kinda don’t wanna go out tonight,” Dejun said, burrowing himself deeper into his cocoon of comfortable blankets. He honestly was a little warmer than was comfortable, but it was a better alternative than being dragged to yet another party that he’ll have to spend babysitting his drunk friends.

“Yangyang wants to bring us along because this will be like, the last time he can bring plus-ones that aren’t girls,” Kunhang said, puppy-dog eyes already on full display. “ _ C’mon _ , one last time before Yangyang goes off to rush Psi Chi and leaves both of us alone with absolutely no social life while he gets the hazing of his life.”

Dejun jabbed a blanketed foot at Kunhang’s tummy, which the latter dodged in fear of being tickled. “It’s called a plus-one for a reason, he can bring one. You.”

“ _ Dejuuuuuuuuuun _ ,” Kuhang whined, half-flopping on top of his legs, and Dejun vainly tried to wiggle out from under the awkward weight. “Stop being such a grandpaaaaaaaa.”

“I just want to watch my shows,” Dejun pleaded, looking longingly at the paused screen of an episode of  _ Tidying Up with Marie Kondo _ . 

Kunhang looked pained for an instance, but his expression smoothed over as he said, “I’ll buy you Bloomz the next time we’re getting boba.”

In an instant Dejun perked up, laptop sliding off his microfiber blanketed lap. “But you hate Bloomz.”

“I know.”

Dejun turned his starry-eyed gaze on full force to Kunhang. “You’d do that for me?”

Kunhang’s resignedly pained look only served to fill Dejun with more glee. “Anything for you, Dejun. For you to get out of your bed for the first time this weekend, that is.”

“Backhand-compliment me one more time and I’m getting back into bed, Kunhang.”

***

So yet again, Dejun found himself on the couch of yet another frat house with an Ice, listening to probably the same hiphop playlist that was played at the last party he reluctantly attended with Yangyang and Kunhang.

He sipped at the fizzy peach drink, which tasted more like candy than alcohol, and slumped into the deflated cushions, sighing in consternation. Maybe he miscalculated the cost-benefit analysis of getting boba in return to accompanying his friends to a party he wasn’t going to enjoy at all.

Dejun looked up when a looming figure came into his field of vision, and shrunk away slightly when they swayed closer, leaning heavily on the couch armrest with one loooong arm  _ holy shit that is very tall person _ \-- 

“Heyyyyy, pretty boy,” the person cooed, and if it were said in even just a slightly different tone, Dejun would’ve kneed the fucker before he finished his sentence, but he seemed more earnest than anything, drunkenness aside.

“Hi?”

“W’sup man, I’m  _ Loooo _ -cas,” he said, his deep voice adding a full-bodied effect to the way he dragged out his vowel. “Or  _ Yoooo-kay _ .”

“H-hi?” 

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Dejun. Hey, wait, are you Yukhei Wong? I think my apartmentmate mentioned you once. His name is Yangyang.”

“Yeah, man, we play IM volleyball together. He’s cool.” Yukhei absentmindedly patted the deflated armrest. “Are you rushing?”

Dejun shook his head vehemently. “I came along because my friends bribed me with Bloomz, but honestly I dunno if it’s worth it anymore because I’d rather be boba-less and at home watching Netflix than be here.”

Yukhei perked up at the mention of the boba shop. “I love Bloomz!”

“I  _ know,  _ their brown sugar latte is  _ addicting _ .”

“I just like jasmine milk tea and they make it well,” Yukhei said dreamily, now slowly sinking to his knees to rest his head on the couch. “Let’s go get Bloomz right now.”

“I-- it’s like 1 AM, and aren’t you supposed to stay here with the pledges?”

“Nope! I can leave whenever I want.” Yukhei suddenly lurched upwards and swayed very ominously on his feet, before comically pitching forward.

Xiaojun immediately made a move to catch him, grunting when all 6 feet and 165 pounds of absolute labrador retriever puppy collided with his own slight frame. 

“Cuddles?” Yukhei asked, as Xiaojun wrestled with him to put them both on the couch.

“No,  _ no _ cuddles,” Xiaojun grumbled, vainly trying to extract himself from Yukhei’s octopus arms. “Don’t you live here? This is your frat house, right?”

“Nope,” he slurred, closing his eyes in contentment, head drooping to press against Dejun’s. “‘s Johnny’s house. I’m jus’ here to support his rush party. I’m a pineapple.”

Dejun furrowed his brow.  _ What the hell does that mean?  _ “Okay, so why don’t you give me the address of yours, so I can drop you off there?”

“Don’t remember. Don’t want to. Wanna hang with you.”

“Mother of--” Dejun tugged at his hair, huffing out a breath. “Why do you want to befriend me so bad? You literally  _ just _ met me, buddy.”

“Cuddles,” Yukhei whined again, insistently pressing against Dejun’s head with his own. “ _ Pleeeease _ ?”

So, against his better judgement, Dejun ubered home with a Yukhei, yak bag and all in hand just in case he hurled in the car. He texted the groupchat with Kunhang and Yangyang to let them know that he left early, as he dragged Yukhei along, who now was acting like he just learned how to walk, to their door.

He managed to walk the other into his room, because Yukhei whined too much about not wanting the couch. Dejun wondered to himself why he was putting up with this  _ baby _ , as he situated his trashcan to where Yukhei was hanging off the edge of the mattress in case the alcohol concoction in his stomach decided to make an MCR-esque surprise comeback.

Yukhei was chatty when he was drunk, but Dejun suspected that when sober he’d be just as talkative. He learned that Yukhei was in Pi Alpha Pi (“Pineapple” for short, hence why Yukhei referred to) and CASA, and was majoring in International Business with an Accounting minor. He played volleyball casually and had similar tastes in boba with him (“Pudding is superior to boba! Why is that so hard for people to understand?”). He had the tendency to wave his hands around animatedly when talking, and as was casually touchy as he was at the party, as he was laying down, currently huddled to Dejun’s side as Dejun himself sat crosslegged on his bed. He’d punctuate an important part of his stories with a light press to Dejun’s side or a squeeze to his thigh, and if Dejun were honest, he didn’t really mind it, especially when Yukhei seemed to be more friendly than anything, his slightly flushed face alight with innocent joy as he recounted the time that he injured himself coming down a hill on his longboard after class.

“It was crazy dude, one moment I was flying down the hill and the next moment I was  _ actually flying _ ,” Yukhei emphasized, miming his flight with a large hand. “Scraped my entire left side, and it hurt like a bitch for the next five weeks.”

He casually lifted up his crewneck tee to show Dejun. “It’s healed now but I still have scars on my arm from where I skidded the most on gravel.”

Dejun winced in sympathy, eyes raking over Yukhei’s skin until--

He saw it. 

An all-too-familiar tattoo that was echoed right on his own ribs. 

Yukhei noticed his staring, and chuckled. “‘s my soulmate tat. I haven’t gotten inked with anything yet, but I was waiting until I found them before putting anything on my body. What about you?”

Dejun’s gaze flitted away. “I haven’t gotten any other tattoos either.”

“Yeah, good call,” Yukhei said, his last words morphing into a big yawn. “You wouldn’t want to confuse them into thinking they’re not your soulmate if they see any other markings. You going to sleep soon? I’m  _ beat _ .”

“You’re not gonna brush your teeth? I have extra ones you can have.”

“Nah. Too lazy.”

“Gross.”

Yukhei laughed; it was a lazy, deep sound. His eyelids were already dropping, and as he said his last words for the night, they completely closed. “Thanks for letting me crash, dude.”

Dejun nodded, even though the other couldn’t see him, breathing out a sigh. “Yeah. Not a problem at all.”

He sat in bed, as Yukhei’s slow breathing morphed into low snores. He could feel his foot fall asleep as he stayed in the same position, ummoving as countless panicked thoughts flitted through his mind.

Yukhei’s his soulmate. 

Yukhei’s his  _ soulmate _ . 

This was someone he barely met for a day, but suddenly finding out that this may be someone he’s spending the rest of his life with was jarring, to say the least.

Dejun swallowed hard, regarding the guy asleep in front of him, face guileless as he snored on, mouth slightly parted.

_ This... this doesn’t have to be romantic, though. Soulmates don’t necessarily have to end up together.  _

There were a lot of soulmates that ended up becoming good friends, ride-or-dies, even. And even though it made Dejun’s stomach twist to know that his soulmate wasn’t someone he could ever  _ be _ with ( _ Look at him, Dejun,  _ he told himself miserably,  _ There’s no way you’ll ever end up with someone who looks like him. _ ), he could make peace with the fact that no matter what, Yukhei was probably going to be an important part of his life from now on.

But even as he got ready for bed and finally slipped under the covers next to Yukhei, he couldn’t help but bitterly wonder what it would be like to at least have a chance with the person that he had the privilege to call his soulmate.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos r greatly appreciated!!
> 
> [follow me on twt](https://twitter.com/camboyyukhei/)   
>  [scream at me or send in prompts in my cc](https://curiouscat.me/camboyyukhei/)


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